Meet Andrew Traver, possible chief of BATFE

posted at 12:40 pm on June 22, 2011 by Jazz Shaw

With all of the new attention being paid to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) courtesy of Operation Gunwalker, it behooves us to take a closer look at Andrew Traver, the person President Obama would still like to replace Soon To Be Under the Bus Resident Kenneth Melson. To do so, we turn to a video dug up by long time Hot Air friend Mad Saint Jack over at The Black Sunday Society. Watch this NBC news clip carefully and you’ll get a fairly good feel for where Mr. Traver stands.

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Why doesn’t Obama chose someone from a strong 2nd amendment state like Montana or Texas? I thought he was running for reelection. Obama is “abdicating” a huge pro second amendment, voting demographic, with this pick. That one is for you cslouis.

Hah, we’ve identified another politician being placed in to a position of political authority…

… why would we think this guy would be any different?

Yeah, he has a policy back ground, but even police don’t reach the higher ends of their career paths without becoming political… especially when it comes to holding any kind of federal government office.

I’m not trying to disrespect true police officers, just pointing out that within any respectable profession, including my own, it is the politicians who are drawn to these positions of power.

More proof here of just how lame the Republican Party has been for the last 50 years.

Let me see – if Obama were on OUR side – and he supported the Second Amendment and was disgusted at BATF overreaches – what he and the Dims do?

Yeah – that’s right – either disband the organization – or defund it into marginalism.

In spite of being in control of Congress for a very long time in the last 20 years and in spite of having the White House also – Republicans kept FUNDING this scam organization that is nothing more than a “big brother” bent on TAKING people’s liberties.

There is NO REASON to have a BATF. FBI can do that job quite well thank you.

I read Michelle Malkin’s article on this guy. He’s a real winner.
All these types are so tough on innocent, law abiding people. Like she said, it’s easier to shoot fish in a barrel than wrestling an alligator in the mud or something.
When it comes to gangs and the real crooks, they’re no where to be found. They talk and look tough, dress to intimidate, but it’s all to scare the innocent. All to intimidate the law abiding.

The Obama Occupation has reinforced in me the idea of the importance of morality and character in our leaders. Look at Obama, you can have all the right laws but what if the President refuses to abide by them? All the laws in the world will not stop a lawless President. Nor will authority alone cause the cowardly in other branches of government to stand up to him.

I wouldn’t let the resignation cum replacement distraction alter the course of the Operation Gunwalker investigation. That ain’t enough paper to cover this thing up. Granted, this Traver fella is no friend of guns, nor gunowners, but Gunwalker needs to be turned over and over again.

If only :) Jarrett knows where all the bodies are buried, we are stuck with her. We would have been better off if Blago had managed to sell her Obama’s old senate seat. She would do less damage in the Senate then she has in the White House.

I always had such respect for all branches of our government.
Years ago I read a large stack of papers on the Terry Weaver tragedy. I could not believe it when I was reading it, but there it was. Even the judge in the case was angry with the ATF! The judge said the ATF was blocking and obstructing the court at every opportunity they had.

Here was this man, Terry weaver, who just wanted to live by himself with his family and be left alone. He wasn’t breaking any laws, but because he refused to become an informer for the ATF, they instituted this massive assault operation around his home. Shot his son and his wife as she held their baby, all for what? Because he refused to become an informer for the ATF. They used a trumped up shotgun charge or something.

People should go back and read that whole event. Then, from that, it went to the Waco tragedy.

The whole thing is just horrible. That this occurred in America. They do all of this to people out in the country who aren’t bothering anyone, and yet, gangs plaque our cities and illegals are flooding across our borders.

I’m sure every criminal found with a fully-automatic weapon went through all the proper channels, including a background check, registration, the $200 ATF stamp, not to mention the incredible cost of legally purchased fully-automatic firearms. I’m sure they don’t cut any corners, or, you know…break the law.

This country will not have any hope of being truly free until the ATF is dismantled. Slaughtered American citizens at Ruby Ridge and Waco can testify to that.

Traver appeared in a misleading 2009 segment on a Chicago NBC affiliate’s report on gang warfare implying that gangs were arming themselves with military style weapons purchased from retail outlets.

Traver also reportedly supported Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s recent efforts to make public the name of Firearms Owner Identification Card (FOID) holders to the press available on request.

The successful nomination or appointment of Andrew Traver to the head of the ATF would basically be rewarding the Department of Justice and Obama Administration for this clusterfuck known as Fast & Furious while encouraging further attempts to restrict transactions among law-abiding gun owners.

While Senate Democrats facing a tough re-election bid next year in swing states less enamored with gun control than Chicago or Washington D.C. would likely join their Republican colleagues in blocking a Traver nomination, it’s almost certain that the Obama administration would wait until the Senate adjourned and appoint him over the recess.

So Travers gives an AK to a slightly-built female who has never fired such a gun before and tells her to fire from the hip, and she laments how wild the spray of bullets is.

0_o

Bishop on June 22, 2011 at 1:02 PM

A veteran female sheriff deputy while trying to qualify with an automatic rifle at the indoor range shot the crap out of the mechanical targeting mechanism. Parts of the shroud, the carrier rail and the gear box for controlling the forward and reverse motion of the targets came crashing to the floor.

Marty: I am at home with the me, I am rooted in the me who is on this adventure.
Dr. Oatman: Good. Now take a deep breath, and realize that this is me breathing.
Marty: Wait, I’m confused. Do you want me to say it or do you want me to realize it?
Dr. Oatman: What?
Marty: About the breathing.
Dr. Oatman: Say it.
Marty: This is me breathing.

I don’t think there is a way to marginalize her influence. After Iraqi Freedom was launched, and WMDs were not found George H W Bush sent in his folks, like “Baker” and they took over for the neoconservatives in George W Bush’s administration. Like Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfwitz, they were marginalized and this helped his son politically in his second term.

I think Jerrett is in over her head, but she’s been privy to – too much of the behind the scenes dealing. If Obama listened to people like say Bill Clinton, he would replace Jerrett with someone with some states craft experience. This would help Obama politically. But Obama won’t, she’s like a toddler’s security blanket to him.

An oldie but a goodie. Traver has been on our radar screen for a while. He is a gun-control advocate of the ilk that think their righteousness justifies blatant lies and deceptions to manipulate public opinion.

Zealots like Traver cannot be trusted to administer laws and regulations fairly. They will exploit their authority to their corrupt ends.

The eight-week trial of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris grew out of such a bizarre set of circumstances that it’s not surprising it took a while for the jurors to sort things out. It probably also took them a while to come to grips with the idea that government agencies could so blatantly engage in entrapment, lying, cover-ups, and the killing of innocent people. As one alternate juror, excused before deliberations were completed, put it: “I felt like a little kid that finds out there is no Santa Claus”

On July 8, 1993, in what The New York Times called “a strong rebuke of the Government’s use of force during an armed siege,” a jury in Boise found Randy Weaver, 45 and almost always described in the media as a “white separatist,” and family friend Kevin Harris, 25, not guilty on six of eight counts, including murder of a U.S. marshal, conspiracy to provoke a confrontation with the government, aiding and abetting murder, and harboring a fugitive.

Traver also reportedly supported Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s recent efforts to make public the name of Firearms Owner Identification Card (FOID) holders to the press available on request.

The successful nomination or appointment of Andrew Traver to the head of the ATF would basically be rewarding the Department of Justice and Obama Administration for this clusterfark known as Fast & Furious while encouraging further attempts to restrict transactions among law-abiding gun owners.

While Senate Democrats facing a tough re-election bid next year in swing states less enamored with gun control than Chicago or Washington D.C. would likely join their Republican colleagues in blocking a Traver nomination, it’s almost certain that the Obama administration would wait until the Senate adjourned and appoint him over the recess.

One thing to keep in mind as well, is that the BATFE is fast becoming the new DEA, thanks to the AT part of their names, High taxes on cigarettes are making trafficking in no stamp cigs very profitable, in some cases more profitable than drugs, and the expansion in ethanol is giving them more resources to ensure everything is properly denatured and not sold in bottles…

I dont know about anyone else, but the LAST thing we need is another agency like the DEA

And don’t forget the attack on the FLDS compound that supposedly targeted Warren Jeffs. The Government took 450 children away from their families and strip searched them, took DNA samples from everyone and in the end, only got joke “convictions”.

If they were after Jeffs, how does violating 1000 people’s civil rights “make us safer”?????

I would not be surprised if Traver or the Obama administration would introduce legislation that would require all legal firearms owners to be publicly named on some type of list similar to the sex offender list. Already some health insurance and homeowner insurance companies require disclosure of firearms ownership to adjust the rates you pay.

Fraudulent reporting, particularly the dramatic demonstration of how the reporter couldn’t control the weapon. AK’s really don’t have that much kick; they lift up.
Moreover, the whole “assault weapon” notion is an artificial construct based on cosmetic features of the gun. The same rounds can be fired by other rifles.

Finally, assault weapons are not used in a very significant percentage of homicides, and the overall effect of the Clinton administration’s ban on the weapons was pretty much a nullity. Chicago has tougher gun laws than most other places in the US– and far worse crime. Maybe its time for law enforcement to go after criminals instead of guns.

After Iraqi Freedom was launched, and WMDs were not found George H W Bush sent in his folks, like “Baker” and they took over for the neoconservatives in George W Bush’s administration. Like Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfwitz, they were marginalized and this helped his son politically in his second term.

…of the ilk that think their righteousness justifies blatant lies and deceptions to manipulate public opinion.
novaculus on June 22, 2011 at 1:24 PM

This describes the entire Left. If they lose on one front, they simply go into the shadows to come at you from another angle, or “under the radar” as one utterly typical but effectively stylized lying Leftist-in-Chief would put it. They are relentless and unconscionable and their “morals” are historically and genetically unaltered going back to the French Revolution.

Nearly the entire establishment GOP still does not get this truth, and thus we are fighting for our country’s survival and hanging on by our fingertips in hope of help in 2012.

Every weapon with a pistol grip is designed to be fired at the shoulder level. That’s why the pistol grip was invented. The reason for the general lack of pistol grips prior to WWII was the bayonet charge.

Check it out at a gun store. A pistol grip feels more comfortable at the shoulder level, while a traditional (M1 carbine, M1A rifle, etc.) grip feels more comfortable at the hip. This is why target rifles feature tall stocks with penetrations for the thumbs – it’s a pistol grip in disguise.

So put a automatic rifle without compensator in the hands of a newbie and order her to fire from the hip. She has an awkward grip, cannot use the sights, is taking the recoil in the wrong place, has the wrong stance and knows nothing about fire discipline. It’s amazing she hit the paper at all. Note that the experienced shooter had no problem managing the weapon. Equate the automatic weapon with semi-autos and we have a lovely image, the pointlessness of which is lost on the viewer.

Semi autos consitute about 15% of private arms and are used in just 0.25% of violent crimes. Knives, clubs and hands are used over semi autos in murders by a ratio of more than 20 to 1. Semi autos simply are not a big criminal threat. For the criminal, the .38 revolver still king.

Black guns look scary. Makes them a convenient poster child for gun control. Fact is, increases in ownership of semi autos can be correllated to decreases in violent crimes. Probably due to the fact that they are more easily concealed than revolvers and ‘shall issue’ concealed carry states have seen violent crimes fall after enactment.

Just as guns and alcohol shouldn’t mix, neither should morons and microphones.

He’s more malicious. He needs to go and Napolitano too. Issa is not finished. Obama s/b held accountable too.

Schadenfreude on June 22, 2011 at 1:43 PM

They keep over reaching – they think they are untouchable? These people are lawyers, they have to know there are limits even on the crap they try to pull. What happens when they all are out of power they think they has some kind of immunity to prosecution? When the Republicans take back the Senate in 2012, it’s going to be a bad day for Team Obama. They don’t seem to think anyone is going to come after them. They don’t have any reason to feel that way, based in any kind of reality.

If the cops I know and had the chance to train with are any indication, most of them find firearms training and qualifications to be a bore and a chore. Some of them take it seriously, but not most. One of the training officers, who was also the SWAT team trainer, lamented the low standards for qualifications. On the other hand, his assistant was a female officer, and she was well-skilled.

By the way, the SWAT guy brought in some full-autos for us to shoot in training. After a few minutes of instruction, and with proper supervision, everyone was able to shoot full auto with control. I’m sure the reporter could have done as well with five minutes of prior instruction and supervision.

Also if you’ve ever seen a AK47 in real slow motion, the barrel whip is tremendous. No wonder I can’t hit anything with it…

The Feds really need to focus on keeping its tax base safe.
I feel like quitting the tax base, and going Galt. That way the moochers and looters can starve (and I can be sure they won’t steal whats left of my stuff).

legislation that would require all legal firearms owners to be publicly named on some type of list similar to the sex offender list. Already some health insurance and homeowner insurance companies require disclosure of firearms ownership to adjust the rates you pay.

fourdeucer on June 22, 2011 at 1:46 PM

Well, first they would need to know who has what – firearm-wise.

Hence, the gun grabbers are clamoring for ATF control over any gun sale transaction, no matter it takes place:

Any significant change of that kind would require legislation, but with Congress hostile toward any gun-control bills, the administration sees that avenue as closed.

A government official involved in the talks said that suggestions under consideration include ways to improve the background check system dealers use to avoid selling guns to criminals, which activists say is ineffective and riddled with loopholes.

“We’re coming on the six-month mark since the shooting and still nothing from the administration,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign. “It’s time for some action.”

Even then Obama steered clear of ambitious declarations, timelines or goals, but he did call for “sound and effective steps” to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, including strengthening background checks.

Helmke and others interpreted that as support for closing what’s called the “gun-show loophole,” which allows private sellers to sell firearms at gun shows and elsewhere without conducting background checks. Activist groups say that some 40 percent of gun sales are conducted without background checks.

Yes Travers and the ATF are awful. But don’t let the journalists who did this piece of propaganda off the hook. Don’t think for a minute they were just dumb little journalists asking the “experts” about guns and reported what they found. They had an anti-gun agenda going in.

I love the way the Gun Control Nuts always use full automatic when showing an assault weapon being fired. I own an AK-47, fires 7.62 NATO rounds. I trained in the Army on the M-14 using the same ammunition. I have not fired an assault weapon made by any country that I could not control firing 3 round burst.

Assault weapons in the United States can only be sold or imported as semi automatic and have been built so they can not be converted to full. If a study was done on how many people die from AK-47 rounds, I think they would find that the problem is being exaggerated bunches.

The ATF just allowed several hundred of these types of weapons to be taken to Mexico so they could “trace them to their destination” They did not trace any but at least on Border Patrol Agent was killed by one of them. There is talk around Washington and other places of power that the real reason for them allowing the Assault weapons through was to use the data to justify tighter gun control in the United States. If they prove that, someone needs to go to prison for 1st degree murder because they knew the possibilities of allowing those weapons to go to the Drug Cartels.

“In the Randy Weaver case, ATF Special Agent Herb Byerly lied in a letter to the U.S. attorney about Randy Weaver’s criminal history: Weaver had none. But Byerly stated that Weaver was involved in drug trafficking and was a suspect in cases involving both armed robbers and murder. In Senate testimony, Byerly lamely excused the letter, saying the false allegations were “a typo.” He was never punished.”

Byerly lied to the US Attorney, fabricating a criminal history of bank robbery and drug trafficking, to mobilize resources that otherwise would have been reserved for a dangerous criminal. Based on those lies, when the US Marshals made their deadly and unlawful entry onto Weaver’s property, they believed they were dealing with a dangerous criminal, not a religious recluse.

At Waco, BATF agents were staging a big raid as a publicity stunt. They chose as their targets a heavily armed religious cult who believed an assault would portend the Apocalypse. Their raid “planning” depended on surprise, but they went forward even after being advised the Davidians were alerted.

Just a nit-pik, but an AK47 round a NATO 7.62 round isn’t the same. AK47= 7.62x39mm; NATO= 7.62x51mm. I had the M14 in Marine boot camp, M16 in ITR and Vietnam.

There is talk around Washington and other places of power that the real reason for them allowing the Assault weapons through was to use the data to justify tighter gun control in the United States.

There is no doubt in my mind that is true. They began giving speeches and considering gun dealer crack-downs in Texas, N.Mexico and Ariz in ’09. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Their “cover story” is certainly stupid.

If that pitiful excuse for a reporter would have been attempting to hit the target, even shooting from the hip (which any 5 year old who watches TV can tell you is beyond stupid), she could have “walked” the bullets to the target and then held it there. She wasn’t trying, period. She was letting the gun go where it wanted to.

Little Bammie is both malicious and an idiot. His maliciousness comes from his belief in radical Marxism/progressivism, and in order to have those beliefs requires a dangerous mix of ignorance and stupidity.

Semper Fi, I also trained and qualified with the M-14, (loved that rifle) we were not introduced to the M-16 until ITR but I still went to Viet-Nam with the M-14. The first M-16′s we were issued were the open faced three pronged flash suppressors that were later replaced.

novaculus on June 22, 2011 at 2:17 PM

You are absolutely right about the officers not relishing the firearms training. Most of them only go when mandatory or when they are issued new firearms. The funny part is they can use the indoor range almost anytime yet they don’t and it shows when there is an officer involved shooting.

That “U.S.-sourced” fireams would include not only those from the civilian market, but also weapons transferred by the U.S. State Department as part of our foreign policy, and eventually acquired by the drug cartels, is studiously ignored;

In an earlier post we made an explosive allegation. We asserted that this plot to arm Mexican narco-terrorists was issued from the very top of the executive branch, and that these federal agencies were attempting to fulfill Barack Obama’s goal of trying enact gun control measures “under the radar,” as the president said to proponents of gun control earlier this year.

We admittedly do not have any direct evidence of this allegation, but the circumstantial case made has proven strong enough to have few detractors and raises questions that must be answered. At the very least, the president’s views toward guns was known throughout the executive branch. His administration has fostered an anti-gun atmosphere and created a hostile environment for gun owners and dealers. In that ugly petri dish, a program like Gunrunner could be born.

Through his spokesman, President Barack Obama denies any knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious. This may be the case. But Attorney General Eric Holder’s promise that the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General would investigate Gunwalker is laughably inadequate. Having the DOJ OIG run an investigation that must by definition include an investigation of their own agency leadership is a clear conflict of interest. Therefore the OIG is not the correct party to investigate the plot that reaches “much higher” than just the acting director of the ATF, who seems poised to take the fall.
Only one other investigative body has the legislative mandate and independence to investigate this scandal.

You can’t hit what you aren’t aiming at. Shoot off the shoulder, not the hip. Look at the front sight. Put the front sight on target. Pull trigger gently. AND TURN OFF THE DAMN SELECTIVE FIRE SWITCH which is not available on civilian available AK47′s.